World Press Freedom Day

By Dr. Hassan Humeida 

KIEL, GERMANY: It’s May 3 again with The World Press Freedom Day as every year. This day has been celebrated worldwide since 1994 and serves to draw attention to the fundamental importance of free reporting for the existence of democracies.

The World Press Freedom Day of this year appears different; the corona pandemic is not yet defeated and, moreover, new wars are affecting the situations in many parts of the world negatively and making life on earth enormously difficult for many people.

Between the world-mixed-up, there are journalists and media activists who care about important facts. They try to explore the situations for many people, to examine them more closely, in order to present them clearly to the public.

Media people who carry information and facts from the place of events to the outside, objectify them and present them optically to the recipient. They work quietly and tirelessly, so we can call them heroes of facts and truths. Many of the media people are made to pay for their courageous work, and in many cases very expensively.

Obtaining facts and truths, but also exposing scandals and wrongdoings for society and community, can sometimes be a risky path for the individual who sets out and works as a journalist or an activist.

People working in the press are insulted, haunted, kicked and also knocked unconscious in the course of their work and in numerous cases. This happens precisely when other people’s honor is offended because journalists track them down and write or report about them and their deeds.

Many press workers escape the corrupt attacks of the perpetrators so that they write or report positively about perpetrators. Rather, journalists suffer when information is reserved for them or when they are used by government systems for propaganda purposes.

On this day, “The World Press Freedom Day”, journalists should have more protection. The world community, countries of origin, countries of residence and employers should be able to offer and grant them safe protection at work, on the street and at home.

This can only be achieved if the existing laws regarding journalists and their activities are reconsidered. Without independent media apparatuses and freedom of the press, we get a distorted picture of the world in which we live. Our task is to fight such a false image by all means to get a true picture of our societies and communities – a true picture of ourselves.

 E-Mail: hassan_humeida@yahoo.de